You scream, I scream…its bugs!
Just when you thought that olive oil in your coffee was “avant garde” this German guy has out done Starbucks. Thomas Micolino’s ice cream parlor is now offering the latest, most natural treat in the world, cricket flavored ice cream. Micolino has a habit of creating flavors that are far outside Germans’ typical preferences for strawberry, chocolate, banana and vanilla ice cream. In the past, he’s offered liver sausage and Gorgonzola cheese ice cream as well as gold-plated ice cream for 4 euros ($4.25) per scoop. “I am a very curious person and want to try everything,” Micolino explained. “I’ve eaten a lot of things, including a lot of strange things, and crickets were something I still wanted to try in the form of ice cream.” A European Union regulation now allows the use of the insects in food. Micolino’s ice cream is made of cricket flour, heavy cream, vanilla extract and, honey, and he tops it with dried whole crickets. The creative vendor says that while some people are disgusted and even upset that he is offering insect ice cream, curious customers have mostly liked the new flavor. “Those who try it are very enthusiastic,” Micolino said. “I have customers who come here every day and buy a scoop.”
You probably ask the same question as thousands of others in Europe and the US. Why eat Crickets? For one, crickets are a high-protein, low-fat food source that can supply the human body with important vitamins, minerals, and healthy macro-nutrients. Not to mention that in many parts of the world, entomophagy (eating insects for food) is a common and vital part of a healthy diet. When we begin to understand and accept that crickets trump beef and pork pound-for-pound for protein, contain a fraction of the fat, and far exceed a steak in calcium and iron; we begin to understand our responsibility to our family, our future generations, and our planet to expand our horizons and become part of the solution. Amazingly sustainable to raise, and requiring a fraction of the resources (feed, water, and land) that other livestock demand…it’s really like comparing the carbon footprint of a bicycle to that of a Semi-Truck. Crickets taste like, you can think of it as a cross between a shrimp and roasted nuts, and most who are brave enough to try them agree that they are delicious.
Like millions of westerners you may be asking, “What will my friends say when they find I am eating bugs? Well, you can tell them you are of one of millions, particularly in China. Adyl Gaparov of Kyrgyzstan is a pioneer in helping keep the 1.5 billion people in China alive economically. “Our main business is producing cricket flour with high protein content,” Gaparov said. “Our flour is 70% of protein with many micro and macro elements.” Gaparov has about one tonne (2,200 pounds) of live crickets at his farm, but he says serious business such as shipments to China start with at least five-ton cargoes. He is offering cricket flour for sale at $37 per pound. “We are in talks with several companies that are looking to procure large quantities of powder – which we cannot produce at the moment – to make sports protein bars, for example, for athletes and for people trying to lose weight,” he says. “China consumes 30,000 tons of insects a year, but only produces 20,000 tons.” Gaparov also sells deep-fried insects as a beer snack.
Buggy Food Funnies
I put out a poll to see if anyone out there was interested in insect-based burgers.
All I’m hearing is crickets!
What insect is the Wood Ant related to?
The Should Ant and the Could Ant.
“Waiter! What is that bug doing in my salad?”
“Trying to find a way out, sir.”
Did you hear about the winged insect from America that evolved to be compatible with computers?
It was a USBee.
March 3rd Birthdays
1986 – Stacie Orrico, 1970 – Julie Bowen, 1983 – Jessica Biel, 1984 – Nathalie Kelley
1998 – Jayson Tatum, 1962 – Herschel Walker, 1978 – Douglas Osmond, 1847 – Alexander Graham Bell